Louisiana
Housing advocates warn public encampment ban carries risks for Louisiana
A relocation notice is posted in front of a makeshift shelter at the Earhart Boulevard homeless encampment Jan. 13, 2025. Those living near the corridor were take to a state-operated transitional center in Gentilly. (John Gray/Verite News)
A bill requiring local governments to enforce a ban on sleeping on public property passed through a Louisiana legislative committee Wednesday within the hearing’s final minutes, though housing advocates and groups that serve the homeless say it remains problematic in its current form.
The proposal, House Bill 619 by Rep. Alonzo Knox, D-New Orleans, would direct local governments to enforce a ban on “public camping” or face possible lawsuits. Local governments could instead designate government-sanctioned encampments – much like the recent state-operated “Transition Center” in New Orleans – in areas where they wouldn’t “materially affect the property value” of homes or businesses.
Any resident or business within 1,000 feet of an illegal public camp, as well as a local district attorney, would be able to sue local governments if they failed to enforce the ban.
Knox’s bill also requires homeless service providers who receive state funds to provide detailed documentation of their work to municipalities upon request or else lose their funding. Unity of Greater New Orleans, the leading nonprofit serving the city’s homeless population, has drawn scrutiny from Knox and others for not providing more specific data on how it spends federal dollars.
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Knox has repeatedly accused housing nonprofits of waste and decried the “homeless industrial complex.” He pushed for the legislative audit of New Orleans’ Continuum of Care providers earlier this year. It found that the city and Unity spent $216 million between 2019-24, with the majority of funds going toward permanent supportive housing.
The audit also found that shelters need better oversight to ensure they’re meeting minimum health and safety standards.
When Knox’s measure was brought up Wednesday in the House Committee on Health and Welfare, it was after hearings on two other bills spanned more than three hours. Chairman Rep. Dustin Miller, D-Opelousas, noted that 11 people wanted to speak against Knox’s bill but wouldn’t have time because the House had already convened on the floor.
Committee members were given the option to defer Knox’s bill until next week but chose instead to continue the meeting. With limited time, Miller limited the opposition to just three speakers. Two attendees who’ve experienced homelessness were among those who didn’t have the chance to speak.
Knox agreed to amendments suggested by Rep Chris Turner, R-Ruston, which included changes in how the bill defines dwelling structures and extended the timeline for encampment clearing notices. Committee members suggested that the amendments should remove opposition to the bill.
But opponents said the amendments did not allay their concerns, and in some cases even increased the risk of harm.
‘Serious legal and ethical conflicts’
The state-sanctioned encampments proposed in Knox’s bill parallel Gov. Jeff Landry’s recent transition center in New Orleans, set up at a warehouse in a remote industrial section of the city. Unsheltered people were taken there from encampments downtown just before the Super Bowl.
Knox toured and praised the site while it was open, but his bill has sparked questions about how money for housing can be spent most efficiently.
Landry’s transition center, which cost about $17 million, ultimately placed 108 people in permanent supportive housing. Since 2023, Unity of Greater New Orleans has spent $2.3 million to permanently house 275 people, according to the audit.
The state spent about $100,000 per person on the warehouse site over 10 weeks, compared to the $20,000 per year it costs to provide housing and support services per person, said Angela Owczarek with the Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative, a housing rights advocacy group.
A pandemic-era emergency rental assistance program, which ended last year, cost about $3,000 per New Orleans household to prevent homelessness for those facing eviction, Owczarek said.
Elsa Dimitradis, executive director of Acadiana Regional Coalition on Homelessness and Housing, testified that she had “serious concerns” about Knox’s bill, particularly the mandate about sharing client information with local governments. She warned the potential violations of privacy and disability laws could jeopardize $93 million in federal funding for housing nonprofits across the state.
Unity of Greater New Orleans is already suing the state for trying to compel the organization to produce protected information about its clients, such as medical histories and Social Security numbers.
Dimitradis also testified that the bill as written “appears to allow for open-ended demands at any time without clear standards or limitations,” which is “an operational threat.”
Hannah Adams of the National Housing Law Project argued the bill should provide exceptions to the ban if local governments are actively working to rehouse people.
“Clearing an encampment when social workers are actively working to rehouse individuals does interfere with their ability to maintain contact and secure long-term housing for their clients,” Adams told the committee.
The audit, likewise, noted that unexpected NOPD sweeps and state pressure to clear encampments contributed to delays in the city’s rehousing efforts.
Monique Blossom, director of policy at Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, also warned that by directing state officials to inspect group homes, the bill risks violating the federal Fair Housing Act, opening the state to liability. The bill could lead to the shuttering of some group homes, including domestic violence shelters, sober living homes and even homes for seriously ill children who need to stay near hospitals, she said
Donna Paramore, executive director of the Travelers Aid Society of Greater New Orleans, told Illuminator the group is in “strong opposition” to the bill despite the amendments.
“The framework it proposes still undermines essential safeguards for vulnerable populations,” Paramore said. The issues outlined by Dimitradis “could jeopardize federal funding” and “create serious legal and ethical conflicts,” she added.
Paramore also noted her nonprofit undergoes an independent financial audit each year and has never had an adverse finding. She said that instead of banning public encampments, the state should expand supportive housing, behavioral health services and trauma-informed care.
Knox dismissed objections at the close of the hearing, calling some “technical and nitpicking.” He rejected Adams’ request for leniency when social workers are actively working on rehousing someone.
“If that language were to be included, they will always be ‘actively working,’” Knox said.
The representative’s office did not respond to a request for comment after hearing.
Knox’s bill was advanced to the House floor without objection.
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – South Louisiana’s coast has long served as a natural buffer between communities and rising water.
But since the 1930s, Louisiana has lost nearly 2,000 square miles of coastal land.
Dr. Torbjorn Tornqvist, a professor at Tulane University, said Louisiana is one of the most vulnerable coastal areas in the world because of climate change, sea level rise and subsidence.
“Louisiana is arguably one of the most vulnerable… perhaps the most vulnerable coastal zones in the world when it comes to climate change and sea level rise… and there are several reasons for that but one important reason is that we have high subsidence rates, and that means sea level rise here is a lot faster than the average around the world,” Tornqvist said.
Tornqvist is the lead author of a recently published study examining the long-term impacts of sea level rise across south Louisiana.
He said the issue is no longer limited to communities closest to the Gulf Coast.
“People are leaving the coast of Louisiana, but it’s going to accelerate over the course of the century. And those people are going to have to go somewhere, and it’s likely that a significant number are going to look at a place like Baton Rouge to move to,” Tornqvist said.
Since Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana has invested billions of dollars in large-scale restoration projects designed to reduce flood risk and strengthen the coast.
Some researchers believe those projects are important but not permanent fixes.
“We have…right now we have a pretty high-quality flood protection system that’s obviously way better than it was during Katrina and we should certainly keep investing in upkeep, but we also have to recognize that’s only going to take us so far,” Tornqvist said.
State officials say those investments remain critical as Louisiana adapts to future flood risks.
Micheal Hare, executive director of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, said the state’s coastal plan is designed to balance restoration work with protection projects, including levees.
“Our 2023 master plan certainly incorporates the best science available to us to then come up with a balanced approach between how do we effectively spend money on restoration as well as money on protection projects like levees,” Hare said.
Hare said those projects will continue to evolve as future risks change. CPRA and the Army Corps of Engineers are re-evaluating portions of the West Bank and Vicinity levee system in New Orleans to meet projected future flood risks within the next half-decade.
“Morganza to the Gulf is a great example, location communities came together, they started funding it…so that protection is critical…It will constantly be maintained and constantly elevated to meet the new levels of threats and risks that are out there,” Hare said.
Coastal officials and researchers agree that what happens along Louisiana’s coast will continue to affect communities far beyond the shoreline for generations.
“And so maybe you don’t live behind the levee, but I promise you want those coastal communities to stay there and to keep working, and to stay productive and engaged…so that we don’t have to have these flood fights further north or lose parts of our economy,” Hare said.
Tornqvist said the decisions made now could shape the future of Louisiana communities.
“What’s really important to recognize is that the next few decades are basically going to decide the long-term future of cities like Baton Rouge,” Tornqvist said.
Louisiana has always lived with water. As the coast changes and sea levels rise, the challenge is how communities across south Louisiana continue adapting for generations to come.
From the Gulf Coast to Baton Rouge, the future of Louisiana’s coastline is a conversation that impacts the entire state.
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Louisiana ranks among the top 10 most affordable states to retire, according to a new study from Retirement Living, a national journal of retirement research.
Researchers analyzed each state’s housing costs, living expenses and tax friendliness to compile the ranking. Louisiana, they say, is the eighth most affordable state for retirees.
In Louisiana, the median monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $932, the median home sale price is $255,000, monthly grocery spend per capita is $272, the average price per gallon of regular gas is $4, the average Medicare Advantage monthly premium is $13.35 and the average effective property tax rate is 0.55%.
West Virginia is the most affordable state to retire, followed by Mississippi, Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Louisiana, Indiana and Kansas. Researchers describe the South as “the sweet spot for an affordable retirement.”
The most expensive state to retire, meanwhile, is California, followed by Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Utah, New York and Minnesota.
Read Retirement Living’s full report here.
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – With hurricane season approaching, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is bringing the community together to prepare before a storm forms.
“We can’t stop disasters from happening. We can’t stop hurricanes from happening. But what we can do is equip our communities with the resources that they need to prepare for these storms ahead of time,” said Jayda Morris, CPRA outreach manager.
The agency hosted an event featuring interactive storm simulations and a full model of the Mississippi River.
“If you do it now, like on a sunny day like today, you’re ready to go for the rest of the season,” Jay Grymes said.
El Niño may reduce storms, but Louisiana still at risk
State Climatologist Jay Grymes said an El Niño pattern may reduce the number of storms in the Atlantic but warned against a false sense of security.
“In those 25 years, Louisiana, some part of the state has been impacted by 29 storms. That’s one a year, regardless of El Niño. So that should tell you something,” Grymes said.
He said the bigger concern is storms that can form in the Gulf with little warning.
“If we’re going to get a storm, it very possibly could be one that bubbles up in the Gulf and doesn’t give us five or seven days to track it coming our way. It gives us 40 hours to get ready for a landfall. So it’s imperative that you go ahead and do it now,” Grymes said.
Preparation goes beyond stocking water
Preparing now includes walking through yards, checking trees, and knowing whether everyone in the family can survive two weeks without power.
PhD students with the LSU College of the Coast and Environment gave the community a virtual reality experience that puts users inside a storm.
“If they wear the goggles or play with the Apple Vision Pro, they can understand how high will the flood be, and they can know how dangerous is the hurricane scenario,” said Yixuan Wang.
The VR simulation uses real historical data to show users what compound flooding looks like in New Orleans and surrounding areas. The goal is to make the science real for people who can’t picture what a flood map means.
“It’s just to let you understand the environment. We will add the audios, the different sound of the wind and the storm. And you can see how tense of the rainfall around you,” Wang said.
Organizers said the event is about making sure that when a storm threatens the area, families already know their plan.
Information from the event is available on CPRA’s website. Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.
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